How To Get Rid Of Ants

Posted on October 31, 2010 by admin

If there’s one annoying pest pretty much every homeowner will have to deal with at some point, it’s ants. And ants really are an annoyance. They’re not going to tear down your house like termites, and they’re not going to scatter your trash around like raccoons, and they’re not going to scare your wife half to death like mice. But they are annoying and you definitely don’t want them coming into your house. So if you’re looking to get rid of ants, read on and we’ll discuss how to take care of them.

The first thing to think about when you have ants in the house is whether you’re doing anything to draw them in from the outside. Do you have food lying around in your kitchen? Dirty dishes that need to be washed? Is your sugar container lying open near a window? It seems kind of silly to think that you might actually be luring the ants in your home, but I can tell you that I’ve done exactly that on several occasions. If this is the case for you, cleaning up and removing the food source that they are seeking might solve the problem completely.

If your kitchen is clean and you still can’t get rid of the ants in your house, the next step is to start killing the ants. There are two things to do here. First, get some little ant traps and put them all over the room where the ants are in out-of-the-way places. You don’t want your kids or your pets to find the traps and become curious about them, so be sure to put the traps in places that no one but the ants will find. The second thing to do is get a bottle of ant spray and spray it liberally around the room. (Spray it right at the crack of the wall and the floor all the way around the room.) If you have enough spray, putting it all the way around your house on the outside can also be very helpful.

Lastly, if you still can’t get rid of the ants, it’s probably time to call a professional pest control company. They have a lot more experience at doing this than you, and they have access to better chemicals and equipment. Plus, most companies will offer a money-back guarantee, so if they can’t get rid of the ants you’ll be able to get your money back.

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5 DIY Tools Everyone Should Have

Posted on October 31, 2010 by admin

Anyone who is interested in DIY or doing some projects around the house is definitely going to need to be equipped to do the job. You wouldn’t go fishing without a fishing rod, right? Or camping without a flashlight? You always need the appropriate tools to do the job. Here are some tools that every DIY enthusiast should keep on hand.

1) Hammer – Pretty basic, right? But you’ll be surprised at the number of times you’ll need a hammer as you do your work projects. Besides the obvious job of tapping nails into boards, you’ll also use your hammer to pull things apart, pull old nails out of walls, and, on occasion, kill spiders.

2) Screwdriver set – Much like the hammer, you’ll be surprised at the number of times you’ll need to use a screwdriver. And note that I didn’t say one screwdriver – you need a full set, so that you can handle any job that comes up. Get a screwdriver set that has one screwdriver with several interchangeable heads – flat, Phillips, and square, at the least – plus a couple of different sizes for each.

3) Power drill – Speaking of screwdrivers, if you’ve ever spent a couple of hours putting screws into walls, you know how tired your arms get. This is where your power drill comes in to play. Having interchangeable heads for your screwdriver set means that there’s a good possibility you’ll be able to plug them into your drill. This makes putting up drywall or hanging pictures much less of a chore.

People always want to know what sort of drill to get. Should it be cordless or does that matter? There really is no one answer for that question. Both cordless and corded drills have pros and cons. Cordless drills can go anywhere with ease, but if the battery dies in the middle of your job, you may be out of luck unless you have a spare. Corded drills never run out of power, but your job has to be done in range of an electrical socket (or you better have a long extension cord). It comes down to personal preference. Pick the one that you like and give it a shot. (And as with anything else, if you’re going to buy power tools online, make sure to read the reviews before you buy.)

4 & 5) Tape Measure and Level – These last two DIY tools go together a good bit of the time. You’ll often be measuring and using a level in the same project. If you’re mounting a TV, for instance, you’ll use the tape measure to make sure the TV is where you want it to be, and then you’ll use the level to make sure it’s on the wall correctly.

There’s no way to keep every tool you’ll ever need on hand all the time, but these 5 tools will go a long way towards helping you tackle any project.

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